Smooth Criminal
by JoJo1
Summary: Marie's been hurt and it's time to go to claw-city. (sequel to 'It hurts me')


**Disclaimer:** Lemme see...no, the X-men doesn't belong to me. Much to the dismay of everyone...  
**Archive:** Dolphin Haven. Or ask perhaps...  
**Feedback:** For this?  
**Author's notes:** Okay, this is a sequel to "It hurts me". Needed to be written I think...title stolen from Michael Jackson...  


_:: :: indicates telepathy_

* * *

Blood. That's the smell Logan sensed from behind Marie's closed door. And lots of it. What little cool Logan had before that disappeard faster than twinkies close to Beast or a calm afternoon when Jubilee was nearby. 

He shook the handle trying to open the door but finding it locked from the inside. Whoever had locked the door hadn't thought far. A locked door can't keep anyone in Mutant High out of the room if they're set on getting in. Subtle or not the door just isn't enough. And Logan's far from subtle. A familiar ***snikt*** could be heard and the only obstacle that kept him from Marie was gone. 

He entered the room quickly and found it in a mess. Broken furniture everywhere and a bloody glove lay on the floor. Covered in Marie's blood and the scent of her so-called boyfriend was everywhere, especially on the glove. 

Logan didn't pay that much attention right now. He had dreaded the day this would happen and now it had. All he could do now was to make sure Marie was alright. Or that she could be alright once again is more like it. He knew that he had done what he could have to prevent this from happening but he had been unable to and the guilt was eating him away. 

He followed her scent into the bathroom, hoping for the best and expecting the worst. No matter how much he had seen something like this coming nothing could prepare him for what he saw. Marie lying in her tub, almost naked and in a foetal position rocking back and forth as much as the tub allowed her to while sobbing uncontrollably whispering "I'm sorry I'm sorry". That wasn't all there was to it though. Far from it. Both her eyes were swollen shut because of the black eyes, bruises on face, arms, stomach and legs. One arm looking like it's broken. 

"Marie? Marie?" 

She wasn't answering the call, she was just looking at him but not really seeing him - more like being totally unaware of his presence in the room. "Shit, shit, shit! What do I do?" Logan thought before instinctively letting his hand touch her bare skin letting her borrow his healing factor to at least let the physical wounds heal. Except that nothing happened, which if he had been thinking rationally he knew it wouldn't. Before this Logan had never thought he would curse the day Marie had gotten her gift under control but now he did. With every curse-word in every language he knew and then some before picking Marie up, running as fast as he could towards the med-bay while projecting his thoughts as loud as he could. 

::Jeanie, get your ass down to the medlab five minutes ago!::   
::Logan? What's wrong?::   
::Marie's severely hurt. Get down there and ask questions later!::   
::I'm already there Logan.::   
::Good!:: 

Jean was on stand-by by one of the sick-bays when Logan came running through the door, carrying a still sobbing Marie in his arms. 

"What's happened to her, Logan?"   
"That bastard boyfriend of hers beat her up!" Logan said, with a disgusted sound to his voice. 

Jean looked sick in disgust at that before turning her attention to Marie, and saying more to herself than Logan "First things first. First, make sure she's okay. Then go and kick that guy up into the stratosphere." 

She worked effeciently and patched Marie up as good as she could as well as giving her a sedative. After that she turned to Logan who had been pacing back and forth in the room all the while, letting his claws go in and out of their housing time and time again. 

"Well, Jeannie. What's the verdict?"   
"Physically, she will be fine given enough time. It looks a lot worse than it really is and she is in no danger of lasting damage. Psychologically, I'm not sure. That's not my area of expertise unfortunately. If we're lucky she may see reason and really ditch that guy because of this."   
"I don't think so Jeannie."   
"Why not?"   
"When I found her in her bathroom she was whispering 'I'm sorry'. She's blaming herself for this." 

Jean felt like she had been punched in the gut, hard. She had known that Chris had been a complete and utter bastard more often than not but she hadn't thought him capable of physical violence, nor had he she been able to picture Marie so subserviant to him. She had always seen Marie as much stronger than that. And now Marie had to pay the price for that lack of forsight. 

She didn't know what to do. "What do we do Logan? Do you have any idea?"   
"No, except that I will make sure he never gets near her ever again."   
"And how do you plan to do that?" Jean asked, knowing perfectly well what Logan meant.   
"I'm going to do some creative surgery. Without anastethics." he said before storming off to find the creep that did this to his precious Marie. Jean didn't have time to protest and truth be told, she hadn't done so had she had time either. Anyone that hurts one of her friends deserve anything bad that's coming to them, hippocratic oath be damned! 

Logan was on the hunt. No, not Logan. The man had been left behind at this point. The Wolverine was on the hunt and may God have mercy on the creep he was after, with every sense and every piece of knowledge to his disposal. No one else would when he found him. Because he would make sure there would be no one around to try to help either one of them. It would be just one man against the other and there was no doubt as of what the outcome would be. 

The scents were still fresh since apparently his prey had fled out Marie's window just minutes before Logan had entered the room so he had no real trouble finding him. The Wolverine was enjoying this, pushing Logan to the back of his mind. Enjoying it so much that he dragged it out for as much as possible, scaring the living daylights out of Chris time and time again. As soon as Chris thought he had been able to shake off his stalker, the Wolverine made an appearance again growling and lunging at him. Drawing blood some times. Not other times. 

Eventually though the game became boring and Wolverine cornered his prey, giving him no way out but to fight. Which of course did him no good whatsoever. The fight was over almost as soon as it started. 

Wolverine was aiming for the killing blow when Logan fought himself up towards the surface and said "No. No killing. That's what animals do. Not us." Well, not in so many words but he managed to take control over his animalistic side with a lot of effort. 

"Look creep, I'm only going to say this once. You leave the state or preferably the country at once, to never come back. If I ever sense your presence anywhere close to here or me or my friends, you're dead. You got that?"   
"YesYesYesYesYesYesYes"   
"Good! Now leave, but before you do. Here's a little reminder of your promise" Logan said before doing good on his promise to do some creative surgery, scratching the man's face with one claw making sure it would leave a rather ugly scar before retracting the claws and walked away. 

He looked over his shoulder when he had walked some distance and saw the creep running away in the opposite direction as fast as his legs could carry him. 

When Logan returned to the sickbay Marie was still out of it with Jean still on a vigil.   
"Hey."   
"Hey. You suceeded in scaring the guy away?"   
"Yeah. Otherwise I wouldn't be here."   
"I know. I only wish I knew what to tell Marie when she wakes up."   
"Leave that to me. I'll make sure she understands." 

Jean thought that over for just a brief moment before answering "Okay. I know you can do that. She'll wake up in a few hours so make sure you know exactly what to say."   
"Will do. Could you leave me alone with her until then?"   
"Yeah. Just call for me if there's anything."   
"I will." 

At that Jean walked away but before she left the medlab she looked back at Logan and Marie, seeing how much he loved her and would do whatever it would take to make her happy. Who would have thought the Wolverine could be tamed? 


End file.
